Explanation
VSME stands for Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Standard for non-listed micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. It was developed at European level to give SMEs a practical and more limited form of sustainability reporting than the extensive reports for large companies. The standard has a basic module and a more extensive module.
Many SMEs receive questions from customers, banks and insurers about their sustainability. With a VSME report you answer those questions once and in a structured way, instead of filling in a different questionnaire every time. You report on energy, emissions, waste, personnel, safety and business conduct, among other things.
Because the standard is voluntary, you decide yourself whether and how to use it. Whether legal reporting obligations apply to your organisation depends on your situation and can change. Consult the official sources for that. Much of the data, such as your CO2 footprint and accident figures, you may already have in your QHSE records.
Example from practice
A metalworking company receives a sustainability questionnaire from a large customer. Instead of filling it in separately, it compiles a VSME report with energy use, emissions, waste and personnel data and shares it with several customers.
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